Here's an excerpt from an article I wrote some time ago. It was about the 1973 San Diego Comic Con (or whatever they then called the event we now know as the Comic-Con International)…
…the moment I recall most vividly occurred one afternoon in the dealer's room. A young man, maybe fifteen years of age, strolled up to a table of rare comics, scooped up about $500 worth and made a fervent dash for the exit. The fellow tending the display yelled, "Stop that kid! He's a rip-off artist!"
(A gracious touch, I thought. Wouldn't want to hurt the kid's feelings by calling him a thief or a robber, would we? "Rip-off artist" allowed him to retain some dignity…made it sound like he had some useful, aesthetic skill.)
The thief — er, the rip-off artist tore through the hall like Fran Tarkenton charging for the goalposts. Several con-goers tried to grab him but he bobbed and weaved and eluded their grasps. Nevertheless, when he reached the door, three guys were waiting and he was quickly taken into custody.
Ken Krueger, the con's treasurer (and a charter committee member and an important figure in comics 'n' science-fiction fandom) immediately took charge. Someone asked, "What should we do with him?" and Ken instantly replied, "Call the police."
That may seem like the most obvious answer in the world but at that moment, it hadn't occurred to anyone but Ken. It hadn't occurred to the rip-off artist/thief, either. He was incredulous that the San Diego Police Department might even be interested in a theft of comic books. He stammered, "Police?" as if he'd thought the worst that could happen to him was being drummed out of the Merry Marvel Marching Society.
The sudden intrusion of the Real World into our little Pretend Fandom World, I found fascinating. Had the kid attempted to pilfer $500 in cash or $500 worth of records or clothes or elbow macaroni, there would have been no question. That would have been stealing.
But filching a stack of Action Comics — even a stack of Action Comics for which someone would pay $500 in legal tender — somehow struck both the crook and a few of his captors as kind of a toy crime. It was as if your schoolyard playmate took your Fig Newtons. You wouldn't call the police over that. You'd look like a bad sport for even telling the teacher.
Ken was, however, one of the few adults on the premises — chronologically, if not emotionally. When an onlooker suggested that this could be handled, sans gendarmes, Ken said, "No. This is a crime and it has to be treated as a crime." The police came, they took the lad away and I never heard for sure what happened after that. The rumor was he got some sort of suspended sentence, but it really didn't matter, except probably to him.
What mattered back in the dealer's room that day was (a) stolen comics had been recovered and (b) the thief had been caught and handed over to the authorities. A dealer-friend of mine reacted like he'd just seen one of the great social injustices of the century suddenly righted.
"I can't believe it," he said around 37 times. "Every con where I sell stuff, someone rips off something. The security always stinks and even on those rare occasions when they catch the guy, no one ever does anything.
"I did one con where these two kids were working in teams, sneaking stuff out, hiding it outside, then coming back in to get more. Merchandise was disappearing all day but no one knew who was doing it. Finally, they got so brazen that they got caught…but the con didn't want to get mixed up in filing charges, risking lawsuits or something. They just told the kids, 'You're barred forever from our cons' and let them go. The thieves didn't even return most of the stuff they'd stolen.
"The con organizers act like you're just supposed to accept a certain amount of loss, like it's normal. At one con, I complained to the guy in charge and you know what his answer was? 'Raise your prices.' That was his solution — I should charge more for what I sell to make back the money I lose when I get ripped-off. Maybe if more conventions call the cops, it'll make a difference."
I don't know that it did or didn't…but I do know that, if you do it today at almost any convention, police will be called and you will be prosecuted. That was just the first time anyone heard of it happening. I know that a lot of sellers appreciated what Ken Krueger did that day.
This was far from the greatest contribution Ken made to the con or to the world of comic collecting. I just thought it was a good example of how he operated…a kid at heart but an adult whenever one was required.